Board Meeting Minute.. - Alaska Village Electric Cooperative

Minutes of the August 1, 2008 Board of Directors Regular MeetingAlaska Village Electric Cooperative, Inc.Page 2 of 35d. Delinquent Account Update: Georgia said that due to the recent software conversion, she isn’t able to print outa delinquent account report yet. However, two of our biggest city accounts have signed agreements and aremaking payments. Selawik should get their account paid off in November. There was some discussion. Georgiasaid summer collections are going well even though we are only using one collector this year. Chip Sterbenz,Nina’s husband and a former AVEC employee, is our only full-time collector and he is doing a great job. We aredoing something new this year and are trying to have some interested local people do the collections in theirvillage. They aren’t allowed to do meter disconnects, so we have to have the plant operator or linemen pull themeters. We are also using the remote disconnect feature available in the villages with AMRs and that is workingwell. There was some discussion. Mike Prince said we should try sending e-mail reminders instead of just sendingreminders through the regular mail. Georgia said we currently don’t have that capability.5e. Scholarship Update: Georgia said she distributed a packet of scholarship information to the scholarshipcommittee. She also provided a brief recap and list of suggested scholarship award recipients in the board packet.She said she thought it would be a great idea to pursue a suggestion made during the Strategic Planning Retreat todevelop some sort of apprentice program using the scholarship money. She will do some research and prepare aproposal on that later in the year.5f. Update on Special Energy Session: Meera gave a brief recap of what transpired that morning during the speciallegislative session when she was asked to testify. Things are still up in the air and many issues are beingnegotiated and rewritten.5g. Postage Stamp Rate Discussion: Charlie said one item that was skipped was the issue of AVEC’s rates andsome disparity between communities that is becoming apparent. Meera explained that some communities areseeing reduced fuel costs on their bills because they are reaping the benefit of having some power generated bywind turbines. However, the cash match for these projects comes from a pot of money that belongs to all of themembers. Something needs to be done so that some benefit from the capital investment into the wind turbines isshared by all the members, not just the members lucky enough to live in the communities that have wind turbines.There are many pros and cons to how the current rate structure is set up. Any future rate change would require atariff change and would be a long, involved process to get it approved. The board authorized staff to proceed to doresearch and prepare some numbers and look at different options on how to ensure equitable rates for all of ourmembers. Staff will prepare a report to present to the board at the January meeting.Meera mentioned the death of Dan Kasper in Teller. He was the PPO and died unexpectedly. He was a bigattribute to the community and will be missed. Mike Prince said seven people in Emmonak died in the past 15 days.Phyllis said Old Harbor also had a loss recently.6. Action ItemsUpon a motion duly made and seconded, Resolution 08-29 Consent Agenda, including Resolutions 08-30New Memberships; 08-31 RUS Construction Fund Expenditures; and 08-32 Director Expenses wasapproved as presented. Amy mentioned that there was no new member list or recap of board of directorexpenses prepared for approval due to the software conversion.Upon a motion duly made and seconded, Resolution 08-33, 2008-2009 Schedule of Board Meetings, wasapproved as presentedUpon a motion duly made and seconded, Resolution 08-34, 2007 Capital Credit Allocation and Retirement,was approved as presented.Upon a motion duly made and seconded, Resolution 08-35, CFC Line of Credit, was approved as presented.7. Unfinished BusinessFred Sagoonick asked if there was anything that could be done to hold a Youth Rally camp in Alaska. Amy said thatit would be difficult to do as there are only two or three Alaskan cooperatives that participate in the Youth Rally.There just isn’t enough interest to hold a camp like that up here in Alaska.

Minutes of the August 1, 2008 Board of Directors Regular MeetingAlaska Village Electric Cooperative, Inc.Page 3 of 3Mike Prince asked who is responsible in the community for requesting wind turbines to be installed. Brent Petriesaid that the community itself can ask about the possibility of getting wind turbines, but we look at the communityneeds and prioritize our projects to maximize funding and cost/benefit ratio. We follow a prioritized list put togetherby the state and the Denali Commission. We also try to combine or amalgamate projects so we can work on themat the same time in order to save money, especially on equipment costs. But a community could start by requestingthat a MET tower be installed to test the wind regime.8. New Businessa. Strategic Planning Session Outcomes: The overall consensus is that the board members liked the process andsaid it was a very good and efficient meeting. Walter said he would like more time next time, rather than having torush through the agenda to get things done. Charlie said he thought it was good because it forced us to look at thebig picture. We talked about objectives and strategies and it was good that the facilitator involved the staff andboard and gave everybody a chance to talk. It will be interesting to see her report. A couple board members said itmight be good to meet twice a year for strategic planning, especially while we’re in a crisis mood. It’s a good way todeal with changes. Robert Beans said there are a couple of classes coming up at the 900 level, geared towardhigher learning, and he will look into it and give the information to Charlie as he would like to go. A comment wasmade that we have to consider the board training policy when looking at future training.9. Executive SessionUpon a motion duly made and seconded, the board moved into Executive session at 11:03 a.m. to discusslegal issues. Mike Prince excused himself for a portion of the Executive Session. Upon a motion duly made andseconded, the board moved back into the regular board meeting at 11:30 a.m.10. Board CommentsFred Sagoonick said the Strategic Planning Retreat was really good. Walter Sampson said this was a goodmeeting. Helena Jones agreed that it was a good meeting and a good retreat and she hopes everybody has a goodsummer. Mike Prince asked how often UBS gives their report. Meera said they provide quarterly reports. Mike saidthis was a good meeting and thanks to everybody. Phyllis said she is very happy to serve on this respected boardand she is looking forward to the future. We need to continue to keep alternative energy and PCE at the forefront ofour big list of issues. The Strategic Planning retreat was exciting and gave good direction to everybody whoattended. It’s good to look at issues that we will face more than one year in the future. Thanks to Meera and herfine staff for doing a great job. Robert Beans said thanks to everybody for their thoughts and prayers for his wife.She is healing from her surgery. Charlie Curtis said Phyllis Clough, Helena Jones and Mike Prince are up forelection this year. He said thanks to everybody for participating. Have a safe fall and good hunting.11. Next Meeting:The next meeting is November 7, 2008.12. AdjournmentUpon a motion duly made and seconded, Chairman Curtis adjourned the meeting at 11:45 a.m._________________________________Phyllis Clough, Secretary__________________________________Charlie Curtis, Chairman